Fourth blast in a day shakes Afghan capital Kabul

The recent reports of another blast near the counter-narcotics ministry and coalition bases in Kabul has added to the three blasts the Aghanistan capital witnessed on Friday.

Only a few hours ago,  a third blast had rattled central Kabul on Friday striking close to the airport, followed by the sound of gunfire, witnesses said.  "Another one with small arms fire," a Western security source in the area of the attack said.

Earlier in the evening, a suicide bomber attacked a police academy in the Afghan capital and casualties were feared, police said, less than a day after a huge truck bomb detonated in a central part of the city killing 15 and wounding hundreds.

A police source said the bomber struck as cadets were returning to the academy after the weekend. The bomber was believed to have been in police uniform, the source said. Official figures on casualties had yet to be released, but a local television network said eight had been killed, quoting an ambulance official.

In an another incident on the same day, a huge truck bomb tore through central Kabul, killing 15 civilians and wounding 240 others in the first major attack in the Afghan capital since the announcement of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's death.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as the Taliban steps up their summer offensive despite a bitter power transition within the militant movement.